Serbia Reinforces Border After Policeman's Killing

Stevan Sindjelic, of the special police unit known as the Gendarmerie, died Thursday in Belgrade, after being shot by unknown attackers, reportedly illegal loggers from Kosovo.

Following his death, Nebojsa Stefanovic, the Interior Minister, said Serbia would not tolerate “terrorist attacks on its territory and the police would respond with force to any attack.

“I have ordered a strengthening of the presence of police forces to protect the lives of police officers, the local population and vital interests of our country,” Stefanovic told Tanjug news agency.

Kosovo police told Balkan Insight that they have no information as yet on an increased presence of Serbian officers on the border.

“We do not have any information on that. We’re doing our job on the borders, there is no problem whatsoever,” they stated.

As the murder took place on Serbian territory, they also said they had no information on the exact circumstances of the crime.

Sindjelic was shot around 3am on Thursday, on the Serbian side of the border. He had been sent to the scene of a shooting that had occurred earlier that night.

A patrol from Kursumlija police station in southern Serbia had caught a number of people cutting down trees in the region of Orlovac village.

According to Serbian police, several of them opened fire at the police, and one ethnic Albanian was wounded in the exchange of fire.

Sindjelic came with his unit to secure the scene of shooting. According to the Serbian police, he was most probably shot by the same thieves who went back to the spot to gather the weapons and machinery they left behind. He died in hospital in Belgrade, where he was sent after the shooting.